Hearn was naturalised. In 1921 an
appreciation of "Koizumi Yakumo" was included by the Department of
Education in a middle-school textbook. Curiously enough, the fact that
Hearn married a Japanese is overlooked. Owing to the fact that Hearn
bought land in Tokyo which has appreciated in value his family is in
comfortable circumstances.

[193] Coastwise traffic is also forbidden to foreign vessels, as is
traffic between France and Algeria to other than French vessels.

[194] See Appendix LIII.

TWO MONTHS IN TEMPLE

CHAPTER XXX

THE LIFE OF THE PEASANTS AND THEIR PRIESTS

(NAGANO)

The condition of the lower orders is the true mark.--JOHNSON

The Buddhist temple in which I lived for about two months stands on
high ground in a village lying about 2,500 ft. above sea-level in the
prefecture of Nagano and does not seem to have been visited by
foreigners. It is reached by a road which is little better than a
track. No _kuruma_ are to be found in the district, but there are a
few light two-wheeled lorries. Practically all the traffic is on
horseback or on foot. There is a view of the Japanese Alps and of
Fuji.

Running through the village[195] is a river. Most of the summer it may
be crossed by stepping stones, but the width of the rocky bed gives
some notion of the volume of water which pours down after rains and on
the melting of the snow. Two or three miles up from the village a
considerable amount of water is drawn off into two channels which have
been dug, one on either side of the river, at a gentler slope than
that at which the stream flows. The rapid fall of the river is
indicated by the fact that these channels reach the village more than
100 ft. above the level at which the river itself enters it. The
channels, cut as they have been through sharply sloping banks packed
with boulders and big stones, and strengthened throughout by banking,
in order to cope as far as possible with the torrents which rage down
the hillside in winter, represent a vast amount of communal labour. By
the side of each channel the excavated earth and stones have been used
to make a path for pack horses. The water which comes down these
channels serves not only for the ordinary uses of the village but for
irrigating the rice fields and for driving the many water wheels, the
plashing and groaning of which are heard night and day.

[Illustration: THE BUDDHIST TEMPLE (WITH SHINTO SHRINE ON THE LEFT)
IN WHICH THIS CHAPTER WAS